Tag: FTTH

While some rural telcos protest proposed modifications to the Universal Service fund that would support only 4 Mb/s service to the home, one rural telco is moving ahead with plans to deploy a fiber to the home network supporting speeds up to 100 Mb/s service to sparsely populated areas of western Kansas. The deployment is made possible by $101 million in funding through the Broadband Stimulus Program, which was awarded on a 50/50 grant/loan basis to Rural Telephone, a rural ILEC that also has CLEC operations.

The sponsoring cities and UTOPIA have the right concept. UTOPIA is now being better managed, and the network penetration is increasing. I know that they can start meeting their objectives and eventually be profitable, but their members need to continue to invest in them. The $54,000 that the city of Brigham needs to contribute to keep UTOPIA going is a small price to pay for the economic and consumer benefits the network brings. I’ve seen cities blow that much money on studies that are never implemented and just sit on a shelf. I hope Brigham residents and the council have the foresight to continue investing in this valuable asset.

BRIGHAM CITY — After months of rumors, the Brigham City Council had its first formal meeting with UTOPIA executive directors on options for implementation and long-term commitments for the city to continue with the fiber-optic network.

The meeting was held one hour before the regular city council meeting, which didn’t leave enough time for council members to address their concerns, so the council requested another meeting with UTOPIA.

Chattanooga Area 10 Years Ahead of FCC’s National Broadband Plan

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., June 3 /PRNewswire/ — EPB Fiber Optics, Chattanooga’s municipally-owned fiber-to-the-home network, announced it will introduce a 150 Mbps symmetrical residential Internet product later this month. EPB Fiber Optics’ product, Fi-Speed Internet 150, will be the only offer of its kind in the U.S.

Two months ago, city officials and business leaders were giddy with the notion that Baltimore maybe — just maybe — could lure Google Inc. to build a next-generation fiber-optic network for blazing-fast Internet service.

On Wednesday, a larger group of city boosters wrestled with a more sobering possibility: What if Google doesn’t choose Baltimore? More than 1,100 communities across the United States are vying for Google’s Fiber for Communities pilot project. And Google isn’t expected to announce a winner until the end of the year.

Xinhua News Agency is reporting that China Telecom plans to install a fibre-optic network with capacity for 18 million lines this year, and expects to launch 100Mbps services in key cities. The telco expects to be able to offer 70% of users in towns and cities speeds of at least 12Mbps before the end of this year. The same source says China Mobile has also decided to step up the construction of fixed line broadband infrastructure and deploy six million lines this year.

How The Online Giant’s Fiber Project Could Change The Future Of Internet Access

As the scrutiny intensifies over the United States’ inability to keep up with the broadband efforts of other countries, a potential savior has emerged. With its upcoming Fiber For Communities project, Google will deliver Internet connections of more than 1Gbps to one or more trial communities, in turn spawning hope across the rest of the country that ultra-fast broadband could soon be a reality for almost everyone.